


nothing ever comes, ever comes if you call it

by kingkaiserin



Category: Succession (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27518953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingkaiserin/pseuds/kingkaiserin
Summary: Roman runs across the globe and away from Gerri when they drift apart and can no longer navigate their relationship. A family tragedy brings him back home and back into Gerri's orbit. Now it's up to them to decipher what they feel and make it work or risk repeating the same painful cycle.
Relationships: Gerri Kellman/Roman "Romulus" Roy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	nothing ever comes, ever comes if you call it

At first neither one noticed when it all started to unravel. It was little things in the beginning- Roman pushing jokes too far and Gerri losing her patience more often. Then came the arguments that seemed to start as their normal play fights but would quickly turn sharp and personal. Both parties would walk away hurt and unable to express why.

Over the course of weeks they went from working side by side and texting each other during meetings to passing each other in the halls and wincing when their interactions felt stilted. 

Roman sat at his desk and crumpled yet another memo into a ball, lobbed it toward the trash can, and left it on the floor with the 25 others he'd thrown in the last 10 minutes. He barely glanced at it as it bounced off the rim because his eyes were focused on the back of a blonde head in the conference room across the floor. 

It was nearly 6pm and he hadn't even spoken to Gerri yet that day. She was working on some merger that his father had devised but hadn't fully explained to his youngest son. Roman had been consumed with his newest communications venture in China and had barely slept in a week of nonstop calls with the time difference. 

His eyes drifted to gaze out the window to the early evening traffic on a rainy evening in Midtown. 

"Hard at work I see" a soft yet stern voice said from his doorway. 

Roman turned a little too quickly and saw Gerri leaning in, arms crossed over her chest. He was not good at reading people's moods but he knew hers better than anyones. She was trying to be guarded but he could tell she was apprehensive. 

"Fuck yea, burning the midnight oil over here. Just trying to buy my father's love" he quipped. The joke fell flat as he tried his best to muster another comeback. 

"I'm hearing really good things about the Beijing project, Rome. You're making headway there."

He didn't like this at all. She was being too nice to him. There was none of the usual familiar venom in her voice, just a sad sweetness that felt like a goodbye. 

He opened his mouth to comment on her frumpy suit or ask her how she was doing working with the team of old bastards they'd saddled her with but Gerri was already gone. She had turned on her heel and was headed off to put out some other fire the Roy family had started. 

"Fuck" Roman exclaimed as he slammed his fist down on the metal corner of his desk. He hissed as the pain immediately spread across his hand and up his arm. He ran his uninjured hand over his face and rubbed at his eyes. Roman was exhausted and clearly it was starting to affect his emotional state. At least that's what he told himself.

* * *

Later that night Roman lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He let his eyes drift closed but couldn't seem to sleep. His fingers twitched as he reached for his phone. He opened his text messages and scrolled down to find Gerri's name. 3 days- that's how long it had been since he had texted her. 

Their last exchange was perfunctory. "Meeting moved to 11:30" she had said.

"Okey Dokey, Boss" he had replied with a thumbs up and the cowboy emoji. No response. 

Roman let out a breath and left his thumb hovering over the keyboard. "Hey, you up?" He deleted that quickly. "Did you see the mustard stain on Tom's shirt when he was talking today?" That got deleted too. 

"Tell me how to fix this." 

The last message he couldn't even bring himself to type. Just picturing it in his head was enough to send hot bile creeping up his throat. 

Roman threw his phone beside him on the bed and squeezed his eyes shut. His hand, now blooming with a shameful bruise from his earlier outburst, crept toward the waistband of his pajama pants. 

He pictured Gerri's face in his mind, heard her voice whisper "Roman". And as he tried to conjure some memory of the words she'd said to him that had set his heart racing his imaginary Gerri spat, "You ruined this too." 

Roman rolled over and stood abruptly. Abandoning sleep, he headed to his laptop to spend another night working. His head ached from the sleep deprivation and the bright blue light of his laptop but anything was better than the image of a disappointed and disgusted Gerri that stared back when he closed his eyes.

* * *

Another long week culminated in a charity fundraiser that Roman would have rather committed unmedicated self castration than attend. However, an important backer for his project was going to be speaking so Roman dragged himself to Lincoln Center.

Unfortunately for him, his delirious brain had forgotten that one Gerri Kellman sat on the board so of course she would be in attendance as well. Roman had decided that his best course of action was to be swift. He would talk to his contact and leave, a smash and grab rather than the long con. 

But because the universe loved nothing more than shitting on him he found that his investor wouldn't be available until after the speeches. That meant Roman had to bide his time and not get into too much trouble mingling among the rich, powerful, and unbelievably boring crowd of philanthropic assholes he was surrounded by. 

The big band up on the stage was cranking out a rousing rendition of "Beyond the Sea" with the dance floor full of middle aged white people dancing in the way only they do. Roman stood off to the side nursing his third or fourth (who's counting) vodka rocks of the night and mumbling along to the song. 

"Somewhere, beyond the sea, somewhere not waiting for me- my father stands on golden sands and watches the ships that are sinking…" 

Roman turned his head and caught sight of her. Gerri was in a group of people, listening intently as a man talked animatedly. He recognized the smirk that she gave over the rim of her champagne glass. Jealously roiled in his stomach as each moment passed. 

Ignoring the urge to snarl, Roman sauntered up to the group and grabbed Gerri by the crook of her arm. 

"Hey Ger, just need to steal you for one second. Important family business- I'm sure your friends will understand."

He led her by the arm out the door to an empty hallway. Gerri yanked herself out of his grasp and hissed, "What the fuck Roman?"

He hadn't thought this through. What had he hoped to accomplish with this stunt? He had just wanted to talk to her, to lock her in a room with him and not leave until they had figured this all out. But this was real life and now he had an even more upset woman standing in front of him while he could do nothing but stare with his proverbial dick in his hand.

"I'm waiting for an answer, you little shit." 

There was a glimmer of the spark he had missed between them. But now when Roman looked into Gerri's eyes he didn't see the playful twinkle he'd become used to. Instead there was actual anger and vitriol he had only seen reserved for others.

"Gerri I-" he started.

"No, I think it's my turn," she interrupted "you drag me out here for what? To prove that you can? To prove that you're mommy's special boy? No, Roman. I'm done. There's nothing in this for me. Not anymore."

Roman was spiraling. His mouth was dry and the room was suddenly 20 degrees warmer. He vaguely heard applause in the other room, the speeches were starting. 

He stumbled forward into a jerking walk as he made his way as quickly as he could toward the exit. 

Roman was three blocks away when his vision finally cleared. His breath came in bursts that left clouds puffing in front of him in the cold air. He was vibrating with trapped sadness, shame, and the unmistakable feeling that he had just made an irreparable mistake. 

He had backed himself into a corner. How could he have imagined that this would be any different than any other person he had tried to depend on? It was done. 

The next morning Roman sat in the very back of the Waystar Royco private jet with draining a drink as he sent emails from his phone.

One of the cabin crew brought a fresh drink and stated, "We're only a few hours out from Beijing now, Mr. Roy."

With Gerri getting farther and farther behind him with each passing second Roman closed his eyes and finally, mercifully, slept.


End file.
